How the Stars Celebrate Thanksgiving

Food Network chefs reveal their Thanksgiving rituals in Food Network Magazine.

From: Food Network Magazine

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Photo By: Jim Franco

Photo By: Dave Lauridsen ©dave lauridsen 2014

Sunny Anderson

Pie of choice: Sweet potato-and-pecan pie.

Thankful for: Continued happiness: I don't know where I find it or how it finds me, but I'm so happy. Even on a tough day, I try to find the light.

Best leftovers idea: Fry everything! Fry the mac! Fry the mashed potatoes, fry the stuffing.

Guy Fieri

Oddball Dish: Sushi — some type of raw fish, and spicy!

Worst Thanksgiving disaster: A few years ago, I deep-fried a turkey and set the yard on fire.

Best leftovers idea: Turkey-mashed potato taquitos with spicy cranberry salsa.

Katie Lee

Mealtime: Around 2 or 3 pm. That way, you’re hungry again around 7 pm and can get into the leftovers.

Brine or no brine: No brine. Instead, I do injections. The make the rukey extra juicy and flavorful.

Best leftovers idea: Add sweet potatoes to biscuit dough for sweet potato shortcakes — top with whipped ceram and cranberry relish.

Alex Guarnaschelli

These days, Thanksgiving starts for Alex at 6 pm. But one year, her mother accidentally invited 22 people to their place at noon. “We were in our pajamas with a raw turkey when everyone showed up,” she reminisces. Alex skips the brine and prefers stuffing in the bird — “otherwise it’s dressing!” she explains. She believes that rutabagas and turnips are underrated and serves them at her holiday feast in the form of gratin with black pepper. For leftovers, the Chopped judge recommends turkey shephard’s pie topped with mashed potatoes.

Aarón Sánchez

Aarón’s feast starts at 5 pm, and there’s no eating beforehand. “Everyone likes to be hungry enough to have multiple servings of their favorites,” the chef explains, and some of his favorites may surprise you: potato latkes with creme fraiche and caviar and strawberry-rhubarb pie. During his worst holiday disaster, he was thrown a Chopped-like dilemma when the oven broke while cooking the turkey. “We had to cut it up and saute it,” he remembers. Oven mishaps aside, he prefers to marinate the bird with herbs and citrus and uses the legs for leftover enchiladas with guajillo chile sauce.

Anne Burrell

Try This At Home How-to for a pasta dish demonstrated by Anne Burrell

Geoffrey Zakarian

Food Assistant: Eric Haugen

Marcela Vallodolid

Marcela eats two Thanksgiving dinners: first with her family in Tijuana, then at either her brother’s or sister’s house in San Diego. “My son being happy and healthy (and that he and my boyfriend love each other), my incredible family and that I’m excited to go work every day,” are all reasons Marcela shares for being thankful. While her holiday menu includes Mexican fare like tamales, pumpkin cajeta pie and enchiladas the day after (with the leftovers), she enjoys having a traditional turkey too. “I made stuffed lobsters instead of turkey one year. They tasted great, but it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving,” she explains.